Benton Harbor Emergency Manager will lose some power after Supreme Court ruling

BENTON HARBOR, MI – Benton
Harbor is one of four communities that will be affected by a Michigan Supreme
Court ruling Friday approving a ballot referendum to repeal the 2011 emergency
manager law.

The court ruled in favor of the petition group, putting to rest complaints from the law's proponents that the petition's
font was smaller than the legal minimum. State officials said on Friday that
the decision will suspend Public Act 4, the controversial law that expanded
emergency managers' powers to include breaking union contracts and suspending
local government, once the state Board of Canvassers officially approves the
petition language.

Benton Harbor, along with Flint, Pontiac and Escorse, now
must have someone reappointed as an emergency financial manager under an
earlier version of the law passed in the 1990s.

But even under the older version, elected officials
will not regain local control, Department of Treasury spokesman Terry Stanton
said.

Under the old law, emergency financial managers do not have
the power to break union contracts, which has proved to be one of the most
controversial parts of the law.

Governor Rick Snyder and State Treasurer Andy Dillon rolled out a plan on Friday that would sidestep the possible repeal by pushing
through a replacement law.

"It's not like we willy-nilly and recklessly used the powers
of Public Act 4," Dillon said in a press conference Friday afternoon.

That could get underway as early as Aug. 15 when the legislature
comes back into session.

Although the Department of Treasury said all of the current emergency managers are
expected to be reappointed, Benton Harbor Emergency Manager Joseph Harris' position is uniquely uncertain at this point. He recently told the
Kalamazoo Gazette/MLive he was being forced out of office by political adversaries
in Southwest Michigan, and the Department of Treasury was already interviewing
other candidates for the position.

Harris said he was told during a meeting with the Department
of Treasury in June that he would be replaced before Benton Harbor regained
local control.

The Herald-Palladium reported State Rep. Al Pscholka met
with Benton Harbor Mayor James Hightower and representatives from Whirlpool to
explore the possibility of a change in the emergency manager position, but
denied Harris' account that he was being forced out.

Both Harris and Hightower could not immediately be reached
for contact Friday.